Multilateralism is in a state of crisis today, says PM Modi in address to Foreign Ministers of G20

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday while throwing light on the thousands of lives lost in natural disasters and the disastrous pandemic that the world faced noted how global supply chains have broken down during times of stress and turmoilHe was addressing the meeting of the Foreign Ministers of G20 via video messageObserving that stable economies were suddenly overwhelmed by debt and financial crisis the Prime Minister stressed the need to show resilience in our societies economies healthcare systems and in infrastructureldquoThe G20 has a critical role to play in finding the right balance between growth and efficiency on one hand and resilience on the otherrdquo the Prime Minister remarkedHe suggested that this balance can be achieved more easily by working together Concluding the address the Prime Minister expressed confidence in the collective wisdom and ability and hoped that todays meeting will turn out to be ambitious inclusive and actionoriented where resolutions are made while rising above differencesAlso readPM Modi calls for consensus at G20 foreign ministers meetingAddressing the gathering the Prime Minister underlined why India chose the theme of lsquoOne Earth One Family One Futurersquo for its G20 Presidency He explained that it signals the need for unity of purpose as well as the unity of action He expressed the belief that todayrsquos meeting will reflect the spirit of coming together for achieving common and concrete objectivesAcknowledging that multilateralism is in a state of crisis in the world today the Prime Minister pointed out the two main functions that were meant to be served by the architecture of global governance created after the Second World War He explained that firstly it was to prevent future wars by balancing competing interests and secondly to foster international cooperation on issues of common interestsObserving the financial crisis climate change pandemic terrorism and wars in the past few years the Prime Minister noted the failure of global governance in both its mandates He further added that the tragic consequences of this failure are being faced mostly by all the developing countries and the world is at risk of rescinding on Sustainable Development after years of progressThe Prime Minister also noted that many developing countries are struggling with unsustainable debt while trying to ensure food and energy security for their people He also noted that it is developing countries that are most affected by global warming caused by rich countriesldquoIndias G20 Presidency has tried to give a voice to the Global Southrdquo the Prime Minister remarked as he pointed out that no group can claim global leadership without listening to those most affected by its decisionsThe Prime Minister underlined that todayrsquos meeting is taking place at a time of deep global divisions and as Foreign Ministers it is only natural that the discussions are affected by the geopolitical tensions of the day ldquoWe all have our positions and our perspectives on how these tensions should be resolvedrdquo the Prime Minister saidHe emphasized that as the leading economies of the world the responsibility towards those who are not in this room lies with us ldquoThe world looks upon the G20 to ease the challenges of growth development economic resilience disaster resilience financial stability transnational crime corruption terrorism and food and energy securityrdquo the Prime Minister remarked as he noted that G20 has the capacity to build consensus and deliver concrete results in all these areasHe emphasized that resolutions for issues that cannot be addressed together should not come in the way of those that can be resolved Underlining that the meeting is taking place in the land of Gandhi and the Buddha the Prime Minister urged the excellencies to draw inspiration from Indias civilizational ethos of focusing not on what divides us but on what unites us all